From http://hydeparkhomestour.org/:
On Father’s Day Weekend, June 18-19, the city’s largest and most diverse historic district will open historic homes and show visitors how many of Austin’s most cherished characters and traditions are rooted in the streets and avenues of old Hyde Park.
“Back to Hometown Austin: Hyde Park” is the theme of this, the 35th Annual Hyde Park Historic Homes Tour, itself a Father’s Day tradition for many Austin families.
From Arthouse to the Ironworks, Mount Bonnell to Armadillo World Headquarters, this year’s tour highlights how the historic fabric of Austin is woven of threads running through these friendly, shaded, walkable streets.
Austinites ever more frequently mourn the vanishing old Austin way of life. Unlike some homes tours, the purpose of the annual Hyde Park event is not to sell real estate. It is operated solely by neighborhood volunteers dedicated to preserving this special history, root and branch.
The tour features historic homes and buildings from the neighborhood’s founding in the 1890s to the bungalow homes of the 1930s.
Founded in 1891, Hyde Park was Austin’s first streetcar suburb, from which residents traveled to downtown jobs and to study at the University of Texas. Visitors will be introduced to these families with tours of their historic and restored homes.. Educational, recreational, commercial, social and spiritual lives of early Hyde Parkers will be examined through stops at local shops, Shipe Park, churches and the beloved Baker School.
The home base and first stop on the tour is Trinity United Methodist Church, 4001 Speedway, which has previously been home to the 100-year-old Hyde Park United Methodist Church and its predecessor Shettles Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, originally founded in 1915.
Air conditioned buses will leave from Trinity with docents telling neighborhood tales of years past. Tour participants are welcome to stroll or bike all or any part of the tour route, getting on and off the buses as they please.
Supporting sponsors for the event are Suzanne Pringle, Realtor and Grande Communications.
TICKETS
Tickets are available on day of tour at the ticket desk in Trinity United Methodist Church:
Saturday is Family Day with tickets discounted to $15.
Sunday tickets are $18.
Purchase your advance discounted ticket here. Advance tickets good for either day are discounted to $15 are available for purchase through June 17.
Children under 10 are admitted free.
CHILDCARE
A first for the tour this year will be engaging, professionally supervised, secular (not religious) children’s activities provided by Trinity United Methodist Church for $5 per child to infant through elementary age children while their families are touring. For more information contact Amy Duncan at 459-5835. Children are also welcome on the tour.